IPL franchises, private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds are among the bodies consulted on the future of the tournament
Matt Roller
The ECB is consulting with IPL franchise owners, private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds about investment prospects in the Hundred and wants counties to decide on its future in the early months of the 2024 season.
The existing model of the Hundred includes eight clubs that field both men’s and women’s teams and are wholly owned by the ECB. These clubs were governed by boards comprising county representatives and independent directors for the first three seasons of the tournament.
But the ECB and the counties have discussed the model extensively since the end of the 2023 season and are in the second phase of a three-part consultation period, hoping to reach a decision in April 2024. That will give them time to implement the changes for the edition of the tournament in 2025
As things stand, the ECB’s preferred option is to open the tournament to private investors, seeing the Hundred as an opportunity to inject money into the English game. The specifics of the model remain up for debate, with one possibility involving the addition of two new teams – most likely based in the southwest and northeast.
Both of the most likely outcomes involve the ECB transferring 50% stakes in the 100 teams – which will become franchises – to their main host countries. Surrey, for example, will get a 50% stake in Oval Invincibles, while MCC, which owns Lord’s, will get a 50% stake in London Spirit.
Guy Lavender and Bruce Carnegie-Brown, chief executive and chairman of the MCC, told members at a meeting on Monday night that the ECB had spoken to a wide range of potential sources of capital, including IPL franchise owners, private equity firms and government investment funds.
This raises the prospect of investment in the Middle East Hundred, potentially from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) or the various sovereign wealth funds in the United Arab Emirates. MCC also encouraged members to consider which potential investors they would feel comfortable with if the club partnered.
Lavender told ESPNcricinfo in a statement: “The purpose of the informal members’ meeting was to discuss some of the issues with members regarding the future direction of the Hundred, including developing their thinking and engaging with the information currently available.
“Nothing has been proposed or decided at this stage and it is premature to come to any concrete conclusions until the ECB consultation and decision-making process involving the whole game, as well as our own consultation with members, is complete.”
Discussions at ECB level have also raised the prospect of an 18-team “open pyramid” structure that would see the addition of a second division from the Hundred with promotions and relegations. This model would also include opening up clubs to private investment, although it appears to have lost some of its initial support.
Another option mooted by the ECB and counties was to open the Hundred itself to private investment rather than the teams, following reports a year ago of a £400m bid for a 75% stake from a British private equity firm. However, this is not among the preferred options in the current situation.
Despite widespread speculation over its future since Richard Gould and Richard Thompson took over as ECB chief executive and chairman, the Hundred will continue in some form for at least another five years and are based on Sky Sports’ broadcasting deal with the governing body.
There is also widespread agreement in the English game that wages in the Hundred will need to rise if we are to attract the best players in the world. The top-earning men in the 2023 Hundred were paid around 15% less than their equivalents in the Indian-backed Premier League Cricket, despite the Hundred lasting nine days longer.
Andy Anson, the Lancashire chairman, suggested a change from the 100-ball format to T20 last week, but such a change looks unlikely at this stage. Gould said earlier this year: “The format is not something that’s on my agenda … it gave us that difference. Everyone in the world, in the world of cricket, has heard of the Hundred.”
The Hundred’s model is relatively unusual on a global scale and is closest to the Australian Big Bash League, where teams are managed by state boards. This is in contrast to most other major T20 leagues, such as the IPL, where teams are set up as franchises owned by private investors or their companies.
It is understood that any change to the Hundred model would require a three-quarters majority among the 18 first-class counties and the MCC, and the proposals remain at a relatively early stage.
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
